The speck of light floated in the endless darkness, barely illuminating its surroundings that resembled the abyss.
It occasionally flickered as if barely holding on. It seemed as if it would go out the next second, and darkness would be all there was in the [Silence].
It was weak. It was broken.
It drifted in the endless without any reason or awareness to stop. It did not know what it was or where it was. It just drifted, barely aware of the fact that it was sentient.
But deep within, it knew it wanted something. It was drifting, searching, barely holding on to move.
It drifted into the endless for a long time. It had no concept of time; it did not know how long it had been or where it was going. Maybe it was still in place, forever stuck in limbo, disillusioned that it was actually moving and seeking.
What was it seeking? Life? Movement? Time?
It did not know.
But it moved and moved, searching.
Eventually, something appeared to be different.
It came to a stop to examine the scene. A faint, azure glow covered the area right in front of it, extending as far as it could see like an unbreakable barrier.
It was translucent, and through the illuminated glow of the barrier, it could see blobs floating in the beyond. The dark blobs seemed unaware of its presence, but it knew it was closer to its goal.
It drew closer to the barrier that separated the dreadful [Silence] from whatever existed beyond. It knew that the other side held the answers it was seeking.
It grew closer and closer, and for the first time, it realised what it meant to feel cold.
It did not know it could feel.
The coolness was pleasant, comforting. It was the destination.
The barrier felt like nothing; it was almost as if it did not exist at all. But it did exist, the speck of light affirmed to itself solemnly.
What lay beyond did make it feel that it was in the right place. Various specks of light, twinkling like fireflies, leisurely floated around in the space blanketed in blue.
If [Silence] signified darkness and death, this place signified life and... fireflies.
It affirmed.
Although it did not know what fireflies were.
But the word seemed to fit the situation.
It felt a bit pleased to be finally in the presence of... blobs. It had been getting tired and lonely, drifting in the endless darkness all alone. It did not understand why the endless had no fireflies like this place, but it eventually stopped wondering.
Because something else attracted it’s attention.
It was a red ball.
How curious.
It drew closer out of novelty. The other fireflies were like white whisps of various degrees of brightness, but this particular one was round and red.
Very curious.
The ball was bobbling around, very much unlike the other white fireflies that just floated around. It rolled in the air, drifting closer to some brighter fireflies before drifting off to seek another.
It followed the ball’s movements and drew closer.
Eventually, the red ball came to a screeching halt. Although there was no screeching because this place was just as quiet as the endless.
Then, the red ball brightened to a hotter glow and zoomed in its direction.
It wondered what the ball was going for but realised belatedly that the ball was coming towards it like a rocket.
It wondered what a rocket was, but that was not the point.
Because the ball stopped in front of it.
The ball was a bit larger than expected, a whole circle larger than it.
[Greetings!]
It paused.
[How do you do?]
The ballspoke.
It was a bit surprised. For various reasons.
[Human,] The ball began, [You have boundless potential!]
Human? It wondered. Am I a human?
[Human, I bring an opportunity for you!] The ball continued, undeterredby the fact that there was no response.
It was a bit curious where this red ball was going.
[You have a lot of potential, would you like to assist me in a journey?] The ball proclaimed with enthusiasm.
It finally tried to respond, although it was unimpressive and intermittent. [What... journey?] It’s voice was barely audible, weak, and it found speaking difficult.
The ball brightened even more and exclaimed jubilantly, [I knew it!] The ball bobbed in place as if happy and repeated, [You have great potential, human!]
It grew a bit impatient and repeated with difficulty, [What... journey?]
[Oh, yes!] The ball exclaimed with energy and continued as if reciting a sales plan, [Are you tired of living like a human that is meant to procreate, work and then die?! Are you worried you would not be born a human in your next life, but as a pig, or a cockroach, or a cow?! Worry no more, human, because I have an offer for you!]
It grew increasingly baffled, but the red ball paid no heed and continued with seemingly limitless enthusiasm.
[Come join me on a journey to change your destiny! Meet your true fate, and achieve the greatness that is meant for you! Experience the joy of seeing various cultures, eras and meeting new people!] The ball finished grandiosely, and drew closer to it, [You are interested, aren’t you, human?!]
It was not sure how to reply because, frankly, everything seemed a bit fraudulent. For some reason.
The ball did not hear a reply and stopped bobbing in place; it grew a tad bit dimmer and then brightened again, [Human, you won’t regret it! Come, come, join me!]
It finally responded, [Join... what?]
The ball started bobbing again, [Simple! Sign a contract with me!]
It asked, [What... contract?] It did not really know what a contract was, but it somehow knew that it would make this deal a bit less fraudulent if the terms were reasonable.
Although it still did not understand much.
The ball began, [I’ll explain! You sign a contract, and I ensure your complete safety, a 100% safe and secure revival from the dead! You help me solve some problems, and I ensure your being! If not, then you can wait for a few years and get reincarnated, no problem! But I like your potential human, you will agree right?!]
It paused, [Re... vival?]
[Yes, revival! As a reward, I- well- we, guarantee that we will fulfil one of your wishes and if you want, you can be reborn! Your memories intact! No reset reincarnation! Cool deal, right?!] The ball exclaimed.
[Wi... sh?] It was tempted. Very tempted.
[Yes, wish! We are a very safe company, no worries! We don’t scam, threaten, lie or trap our employees like those other fraudsters! As a matter of fact, we fight against them! They have gone against the law! Anyway, you have a lot of time to think about your wish! Ask for anything, employee benefits!] The ball assured it. With enthusiasm.
It’s capacity to think was a bit limited by the circumstances, but it was seriously tempted. [What... will... I... do?] It asked after a lot of effort.
The ball answered happily, almost sure he had another employee in the bag. The ball was determined to be the employee of the month this time! [Easy work, really! You get an identity, although you won’t really have memories but excellent souls generally navigate the situation quite well and solve the problems in the script.] The ball paused and muttered to itself, [Well, not all souls, but I believe in you! Anyway, human, you go in, take care of some stuff, enjoy your time, and boom, next assignment! Easy, right?!]
[Take... care?] It asked hesitantly.
[Yes, yes! Some scripts have problems, moral, ethical, against the laws, some viruses, may destroy the world, may skew the world entirely off the rails, and such. You are getting it right, human? Not that big of a deal if you work hard, right! Hard work solves everything!] The ball declared optimistically.
It paused again, [Destroy... world?]
[Yes, yes, that tends to happen a lot! Starts pretty small and insignificant, truly, but leads to some pretty insane stuff. Not all worlds, though; you will start small if you join! Ethical and moral laws, most likely! That gives newbies a good start!] The ball responded.
It pondered for a while, although it wasn’t really thinking. Somehow, only its primal instincts prevailed and it really just wanted to know what it was seeking. It wanted answers, and a wish sounded precisely like the thing that could give it answers.
[I... agree.]
The ball redness intensified, and it exclaimed with even more enthusiasm. It did not understand how someone could be so enthusiastic all the time. [Excellent decision; we warmly welcome you! Here’s the contract, have a look!]
A scroll suddenly unwhirled in front of it, catching it by surprise. Then it began reading the terms. The language was something completely unknown, but somehow, it understood.
The terms were basically all agreements that it wouldn’t do something illegal, unless driven by the identity’s circumstances. Although, some crimes were still off limits, like destroying the world, threatening the safety of the important natives of the script, whatever that was. It did not care much.
The other clauses stipulated basically what the ball had said. This was a job that required travelling, in conclusion. It’s memories would be safely stored after assignment completion, it could access it under circumstances that took too much time reading, so it did not bother.
Somehow, it knew how to sign. It extended a part of itself and touched the contract, and suddenly, a name appeared at the bottom of the contract, which it didn’t have the time to read because the ball snatched the scroll in excitement.
[This month’s quota is complete! Human, you are amazing!] The ball declared with satisfaction and opened the scroll to have a look, [Hmm... your name... got it, human! A male human, you are!]
It asked, [Na... me?]
The ball responded, [Yes, many soul forms are unstable, and they tend to forget a lot of memories, but they generally remember basic details like gender and such, but some are like you, I noticed you don’t even know basic information. It’s an innate talent of mine, you can say. Anyway, it’s not an issue, of course! Our contract is a great artefact, it can get those basic details! I would have liked it more if there were more things, but apparently, that would be too overwhelming for such a small capacity, you understand, right, human?] The ball chattered endlessly, very interested in educating the ignorant soul about the basics, [Well, that aside, welcome to the job! As an employee benefit, you retain your name! You can change it if you want, I can understand if you don’t like your name or want a new start or something. Do you want to change your name?]
It replied without thinking, [N... o.] Although it did not even know its name, it did not feel like it hated its name.
The ball bobbed in place, [No issues! Shall we start? You ready, human?]
It responded, [Ye... s.]
[Excellent!]
Then everything went blank.
A/N: I know I used too many exclamation marks here but I guess going beyond the rules can be good sometimes. Moreover, red ball is supposed to be this cluelessly (and annoyingly) enthusiastic.
Cheers!
ns 15.158.61.20da2
